Young artist shows off senior portfolio

Bluffton High School graduate Abe Perez was supposed to draw five versions of himself for a Drawing II final. Frustrated at the third, he covered it up with a collage of newspapers. “Even his mistakes are good,” said art teacher Andrea Pejeau.
-Abe Perez/Special to Bluffton Today

Legos make a visually-dramatic representation of childhood.
-Abe Perez/Special to Bluffton Today

Bluffton High School painting and drawing teacher Andrea Pejeau submitted this piece by Abe Perez for the Island School Counsel for the Arts’ annual Promising Picasso Student Art Exhibition May 1-9 at The Mall at Shelter Cove.
-Abe Perez/Special to Bluffton Today

Abe Perez enjoyed school. The 2010 Bluffton High School graduate said he's liked everything about the past 12 years.

Still, his art classes were always both a highlight and a breather in the school day.

"I actually liked school. I enjoyed it, my friends and teachers. I just learned a lot," he said.

"When I went into my art classes, I listened to music and did my art. I cleared my mind of other classes and stress. I could just relax."

An alumni of Bluffton Elementary and H.E. McCracken Middle School too, Perez took his first art class in sixth grade.

"That's when I found out I liked art," he said. He signed up for everything he could in art - from introductory Art Appreciation class to Advanced Placement Studio Art, a class he took this spring for college credit.

"He made a conscious decision to give up lacrosse his senior year to do the AP class, and that's a big decision," said his teacher, Andrea Pejeau. "I was impressed. That's a huge commitment level."

Perez plans to earn money for college over the next year while working, though he's still looking for a job.

Although he describes himself as indecisive, he knows he wants to further his education and study veterinary medicine.

"My concentration was on life and stages of life," he said of building his AP portfolio.

A depiction of Legos represents childhood. Another pairs adolescence and skateboarding, a sport he enjoys in real life.

"He has an unusual point of view," said Pejeau. "The viewpoint of (the skateboarding piece) is so strong. It could be the full figure and all that movement, but all that energy and action is implied, contained in that piece."

To depict old age, Perez chose a tree.

"The moss is growing on the dead tree. Everything is getting older," he said.

His parents are Pablo and Brenda Perez of Bluffton.

Asked questions, Perez replies sparingly.

Typical, said Pejeau.

"The neat thing about Abe is that he's quiet, and he just powers through. He quietly does these outstanding, loud pieces of work.

"Some of the strongest artists are the quietest people," she said. "They say it through their work. He takes all that drive and energy and puts it into the work. He has done such outstanding pieces," she said.

Art can be a place of solace, a key to a secret garden.

"Art is something to get away from stuff, be on your own, be creative with what you want to do," he said.